Silencio
by DeviantD
Summary: A worm AU - Taylor Hebert lost more than just some dignity when she was shoved in the locker. Infections hospitalised her and destroyed her vocal chords. In desperate need for people to pay attention, her powers developed rather differently. Mostly only T, but erring on the side of caution due to language and such.
1. Prelude

**Prelude**

Danny Hebert stared at his daughter, tears running down his face as she scribbled on the note pad. His rage mostly drowned out by his sorrow. It was bad enough that she had been trapped in her school locker for most of a day, but for her to be so permanently scarred was more than he could handle.

-Its okay Dad. I'll survive.-

Her beautiful voice, permanently gone. Some kind of infection from the biohazard she had been shoved into had eaten away her vocal cords.

"Taylor, I'll be here for you. We'll get through this some way or another."

-Thanks-

* * *

Madison had a panic attack. She had gone along with all the bullying to stay in the good graces of Emma and Sophia. But she had to admit she enjoyed some of it. It made her feel powerful.

Until the locker.

She had thought the idea of trapping Hebert in the locker for a few minutes would be hilarious. She did not plan on the tampons, but she went along with it. 'Pussying out' as Sophia would have called it would have done no good. They would go ahead without her and she didn't want to lose her 'friends'. She didn't know Taylor would be stuck in there, in that dark filthy space, for hours.

She hadn't really felt guilty for the pranks before, but catching a glimpse of the crazed filthy girl, obviously broken had cracked through the barrier of casual cruelty she had hid behind for over a year. Then she found out what happen to Taylor after they dragged her kicking and screaming out of the pungent mess. Three weeks in the hospital was too far. The barrier was strong though, and so it just barely held together.

Taylor came back to school, mute because of what they did. The barrier crumbled.

* * *

Hannah looked at the report in front of her. She had oscillated between horrified shock and furious anger several times since she had started reading it. Shadow Stalker had finally gone off the deep end. She looked up at the director and started to speak when she was cut off.

"I know what you are going to say, but this will remain quiet. The PR disaster this news would bring is something we can't afford." Emily Piggot had a scowl on her face, she didn't like this anymore than Miss Militia, but it had to be done. "Sophia will get all that is coming to her, but you are not to mention anything about this to the Hebert family."

"But its our failure. We owe it to the girl to make up for it somehow."

"No, Winslow holds responsibility in this case. They failed to notify us of any of the issues that had been reported to them. I suppose in some sort of effort to retain a Ward on site."

"Can we get Panacea to heal her up at least?"

"She's still in Canberra, patching up survivors and injured capes. That remains a priority. I'll put in a request that she does this as soon as she gets back though."

"Very well." Miss Milita sighed, "I can't say that I'm happy though."

"Neither am I, but at least she didn't kill someone."

"She might nearly have." Mumbled Hannah as she left the Director's office.

Emily typed out the request to New Wave for Panacea's assistance, stating it as a fairly high urgency when she returned. The e-mail sent, the matter was considered dealt with by Director Piggot.

A seemingly random software glitch sent the request into a junk mail box, the screening software not recognising the authority codes from the PRT office. And so, the e-mail languished out of sight for a week before it was automatically deleted.

* * *

The first few days back at school had been like a return to hell. Communication was awkward as I tried to write out responses quick enough. The teachers barely even tried. Sophia and Emma had picked up where they left off with their little pranks. Things went missing, and other subtle evils were performed. They were sneaky bitches like that.

I had lost the ability to speak, and they were still allowed to continue with this. My earlier complaints had been ignored, and once again the administration did nothing. I found myself getting angry though, rather than despondent. I had gained powers sometime during my ordeal, and it angered me that I couldn't use them on my bullies. I was angry at the school for letting this go on, I was angry at them for their pointless abuse, I was angry at myself for reigning in my vengeance, but mostly I was angry at the general system that would make me the villain if I lashed out at my tormentors.

And so, I seethed, keeping a calm, neutral expression on my face the entire time. Maybe if I looked calm, I could make myself believe I was calm.

I was surprised to find that Sophia hadn't come to school in a few days. No one said anything to me, but being a social nobody I managed to overhead things about her transferring as I was ignored by the popular kids. Well thank God for small fucking mercies. It was a relief, and even Emma backed of on her abuse, but I hadn't though much more about it till I had computer class. Assignment finished I had trawled Parahumans Online, doing a bit more research, trying to figure out what sort of things my strange telekinesis could do.

That's when I stumbled across a news article from a few days back. Shadow Stalker had been transferred to another branch of the Wards. Huh. I hadn't heard about that and wasn't really familiar with the cape other than the name. I was prepared to write it off as unimportant till I scrolled down and got a picture. In it was Shadow Stalker, next to the rest of the Wards. I hadn't realised she was so short...

My mind made some connections but they weren't ready to be believed. I started tracking down more on Shadow Stalker, every picture I could get. A close up showed **Her** eyes. A snippet of camera phone footage showed a bit of dark skin through a torn costume. Every where was **Her** confident, intimidating posture.

A placid smile was on my face as inside, my faith in the PRT slowly shrivelled and died.


	2. 1-1

I hadn't told my Dad about my powers. While I knew he loved me, he couldn't really do anything to help me. And frankly with what I had learned about Sophia disappearing, I had little reason to join the Wards.

Still, I felt I had to do something to make the city a little better. Balance out the shitty hand that had been dealt to me. As so I found myself in the Docks, late on a Sunday night. My costume was something I had put together on a whim, and on the cheap. But still it would do its job of concealing my identity and that was enough for tonight.

I could hear movement up ahead as a congregation of figures crowded around a warehouse door, barely lit by the street lights further away and a sliver of moonlight. The little illumination available pick out the greens and red of the Azn Bad Boys, one of the more powerful gangs in the city despite their tragic name. At the centre of the pack stood a taller man, bare chest, with an ornate steel mask covering his face. Lung was famous enough to pick out with just those details.

I was about to turn away, figuring this was too much of a fight for my first night out. But then I heard something that turned my blood cold.

"…the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?"

Well, that changed things. I couldn't just let that happen. Hell I'd likely die a horrible ignoble death, but I wouldn't let him kill some kids. With a surprising amount of resolve I marched towards my likely doom.

I had only got a dozen yards from them before Lung twisted his head my way.

"What the fuck do you want?" he snarled through the grill like opening of his mask.

I just smiled and waved at him. It wasn't like I could attempt witty one liners with him. Even if I could talk, I probably would have screwed it up anyway. Instead, I turned away from him and his gang and started struggling to move away from them. I heard shouts of surprise, most of the gang thrown flying through the air, barely visible in my peripheral vision. Lung however was barely knocked down, and he seemed to be growing in size already.

I stopped abruptly and turned back to him and his efforts to get back up were made easier. He stared at me, a mix of anger and confusion showing in his body language.

"What the fuck?" he asked in his slightly muffled, broken English.

As if to answer I leaned forward and grabbed something that wasn't there, first with one hand then the other. More confusion evident as he tilted his head slightly, while approaching. It was then that I pulled back quickly and rotated to the right.

A surprised yelp sounded out as Lung flew through the air then abruptly swerved into the side of the warehouse, grinding against the brickwork and giving him a nasty rash before bouncing off again and flying past me and impacting the building behind me with a loud crunch.

I tilted my head, waiting for him to get back up. I jumped a little when his barely moving form was pounced on by a trio of gigantic beasts, some kind of horrify cross between hounds, rhinos and something out of a John Carpenter movie. It kind of looked like there was someone riding one of them.

"Impressive work there. Really got to thank you for saving us the trouble."

I flinched and turned to find three people standing behind me. The one in the lead, who I assumed was the one who addressed me was wearing what was effectively a motorcycle outfit, with a stylised skull visor. He reached his hand out, but I was wary about shaking with someone who had surprised me so effectively. Instead I just tilted my head a bit with and lifted an eyebrow.

I wasn't sure if he was disappointed but he continued talking in his slightly echoing voice, "We head Lung was coming after us and were justifiably freaked, but figured we'd try to take some advantage by not being where he thought and surprise him."

"We scared off Oni Lee and some other flunkies, but didn't see Lung anywhere so we were wondering what happened. Looks like you happened." He chuckled, an oddly friendly sounding chuckle. He looked over at where the creatures had stopped clawing their new rag doll.

"That was surprisingly easy, what the fuck did you do to him."

"Some kinda telekinesis flung him into that building before he could get up to full steam." The blond girl in the black and purple bodysuit said, a grin underneath her domino mask. "He got knocked unconscious when he hit the wall head first."

The man in black turned back to me. "Introductions. I'm Grue that's Tattletale, the girl with the dogs." He pointed at the approaching rider with the cheap dog mask, flanked by her other two 'dogs', "Is Bitch and the ren fair reject is Regent"

"Fuck you Grue", the third of the trio said, clearly amused despite his words. He did in fact look like a ren fair reject or some drama student, with his Venetian looking mask and puffy shirt. "We're the Undersiders."

Grue looked at me for a few moments, probably waiting for me to say something, "Hey, you okay? You Hurt?" I would have thought the costume would tip him off.

"The reason she hasn't introduced herself isn't because she's hurt," Tattletale said from the side, leaning up against a broken street light. "She can't talk. She's also kind of shy."

Regent face palms, a glove rubbing against the mask. "Uh Duh, Mime."

I nod my head slightly, before pulling out a note pad and pen.

-You can call me Marceau-

Tattletale looked at it, looked back at me in my stark grease paint covered face, my striped shirt and beret and then cracked up laughing. The grin spread in a more mirthful way then before. Her grin then faded as a loud rumbling noise was approaching.

"I like your style, and wouldn't want you taken in by the PRT. Wanna come back to ours?"

I considered what that implied. These were likely villains, with all that entailed. But they seemed friendly and grateful. That and I couldn't help but believe the rumours about Sophia, it just made too much sense. So fuck the PRT and their corrupt bullshit. Fuck the government that allowed that sort of stuff to happen. Fuck the school for concealing it. I still kinda wanted to help people, but Super Villains didn't need to be monsters.

I nodded and accepted a lift up onto one of the dog creatures as we rode away into the night. I flicked out my wrist towards the comatose form of Lung and a fluttering piece of paper slowly wafted its way on to his chest.

Armsmaster looked around, noting the distinct lack of fire. He was almost ready to write the call about Lung off as a prank, until he saw the huge scrape along the warehouse wall. This led him to the brutalised still form of Lung, several large bite marks and mangled limbs clearly visible. But strangely prominent was the index card sitting on his chest, only slightly stained with blood.

-Ready for pick up, one Lung, partially mauled, no refunds-  
-Care of Marceau and special guests The Undersiders-

He checked Lung's pulse, strangely relieved that it was present, before loading him up with tranquillisers. _This does not bode well_ he thought, considering the fact that a new cape was in town and apparently good enough to take out Lung. That and the Undersiders were getting bolder. He phoned into HQ for a containment crew and stared at the note as he waited.


	3. 1-2

The trip back to the Undersider's hideout was fairly short, but rather quiet. It was too bumpy for me to write legibly and I wasn't able to really hold up a conversation otherwise, so I guessed they felt a bit awkward. I was rather surprised at their laxity in precautions. They didn't even give me a blindfold or anything. This either meant they had a surprising amount of trust for someone they just meant, or figured they were good enough to end me if things got hairy. Given what little I'd seen of Tattletale's weird thinker abilities, I wouldn't be surprised if she knew I had no intention of getting into a fight with them.

We finally stopped at a door down a narrow alley between two warehouses elsewhere in the Docks, not too far from the Board Walk. The dog creatures already shrinking as we dismounted and I was lead through the door into a sparse large room, a loft visible above the empty space. The stairs lead up to what was nominally a lounge room. A fairly nice couch and a few chairs clustered around a large TV, a few doors leading off the open plan area. Obvious signs of living such as pizza boxes, suggested that this was more than just a meeting area.

"Giving the dogs a walk." Bitch mumbled as she walked back out the door, the three dogs trailing behind. She certainly didn't seem happy I was here.

"So what to you think of our humble abode?" Asked Tattletale, gesturing around as if she were a real estate agent. I retrieved my notepad and scribbled my reply.

-Seems comfy-  
-Not as Bond villain lair as expected-

That elicited another chuckle from the blond villainess. "Sorry, we're still on a waiting list for the pool filled with sharks and don't have a tinker for the 'frikin laser beams'."

"Help yourself to a coffee or tea." Grue said, pointing at the kitchenette in the corner, "I've just got to discuss some things with Tattletale. Make yourself comfortable."

Ah, plotting. I guess it had to happen at some point given the limited opportunities earlier. I figured I was safe enough, they probably didn't want to provoke me and it would have been silly to invite me in if they wanted to fight. Might as well make myself some tea.

"So what's up with the mute thing?" Asked Regent as he plopped down on the couch with all the poise of a lazy cat. I held up a finger, indicating he should wait while I poured the boiling water into a teabag laden mug. Placing the mug on the coffee table, I sank into the cushion beside him and wrote out my reply.

-Vocal cords wrecked during trigger-

"Huh, guess that makes sense and leads to your terrifying costume." I would have bet money on him grinning like an idiot under that mask of his.

-What's wrong with Mimes?-

"Well they are creepy silent, and your ownage of Lung sure didn't help matters". The mirth in his voice suggested a certain amount of mocking. "It could only be worse if you were a French Mime."

-What if I was?- I replied with an amused grin spreading across my face.

"Then I would have to shit my pants in terror and flee." He started laughing to a joke I really didn't understand, but mimed laughing along with. Careful not to make the horrible wheezing noise that my laugh would come out as. That was the thing I missed more than being able to speak, I couldn't laugh properly any more and that was just depressing.

Tattletale and Grue returned from one of the side rooms and sat down on the chairs either side of the couch.

"We've been trying to recruit a new member for a while, but there haven't been any suitable matches around." Grue started. I forced my face to remain placid as he talked. I hadn't expected a recruitment pitch, but I didn't need to let them see my surprise. Though the smirk on Tattletale's face probably meant she new anyway. "You seem capable, but we'd like to ask a few questions before we offer you a place."

I nodded, I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to join them but I'd hear them out anyway.

"I get the feeling you aren't exactly a villain." Said Tattletale, "And yet here you are accepting invite from dastardly strangers back to their lair."

She was a perceptive one alright, dangerously so, and smug about it. I pondered my wording for a moment before jotting down my response.

-Yeah, not really into hurting people.-  
-I have a bit of a thing against Authority.-  
-Pretty sure PRT corruption resulted in me getting my powers.-

"Oh? If you don't mind elaborating, I'd love to hear this." I was pretty sure she was only saying this for her team member's benefit. That devious grin had grown larger and it made me think she knew way to much already.

-I'm fairly sure Shadow Stalker's civilian ID did this to me-

I pointed to my throat as I held the notepad out with my other hand.

"Why does it not surprise me she's a psycho bitch out of costume too." Grue snarled. That caught me by surprise. I tilted my head with the 'raised eyebrow of curiosity' as I liked to think of it. It seemed my face was a bit more expressive than it had been before the loss of my voice. I wasn't sure if it was just my body compensating, or something to do with my power. Either way it was useful.

"She used a lethal bolt on Grue when we last encountered her. Seems she has some unexplained grudge against him, probably due to how their powers interact." explained Tattletale.

"Yeah, and he bled all over my new white couch. I loved that couch." Added Regent. "Fucking Shadow Stalker."

-That sounds like the vindictive bitch I know and loathe.-  
-I heard rumours that Shadow Stalker had transferred away.  
-Same day she got transferred out of school.-  
-Tracked back, first appearances matched when I first met her.-  
-Figure, voice, skin, eyes match video/photos of SS-  
-Still not sure why me, but explains way too much.-

"Well I can see why you wouldn't want to be in the Wards then, but why the switch to villainy?" Grue asked.

-Need some money.-  
-Won't work with PRT if they let in people like her.-  
-Too dangerous solo.-  
-You guys seem cool.-  
-Just no killing people.-

"That wouldn't be a problem. We avoid that anyway as it keeps a lot of heat off our heads." Tattletale explained. "Think of it as a game of cops and robbers. As long as its only a bit of property and money, we get off lightly. Like Uber and Leet, how they only get held in low security and basically walk out of prison."

"If we started seriously hurting or killing people, it stops being a game and we get sent to the Bird Cage. Or get a kill order on our heads." Grue finished.

"Given that we don't run a gang and have kept a low profile, we can get away with a lot of things and earn some decent cash while doing it. You'd get a share of that if you joined us." Tattletale continued, ramping up the sales pitch. "You'd get a retainer of two thousand a month. Our boss pays us to be available for jobs. You'd also get an equal share of pay for any jobs we do."

She had some fairly good points, or at least they made sense in my head, given what I had observed of Brockton Bay capes and general news on Parahumans Online. The money sounded great too, that was way more than Dad brought in, with the economy like it was. I'd have to find a way to disguise where the money was coming from if I wanted to use it at home. That was however a problem for later.

"So what do you think?" Asked Grue.

-Okay. Count me in.-

"Bitch is probably going to be annoyed the money gets split, but she's always grumpy so whatever." Regent added.

"She'll get over it, we'll make more money in the long run." Tattletale said, before removing her domino mask. "Anyway, my name is Lisa, welcome to the Undersiders."

"I'm Brian." Said Grue, helmet now in the crook of his elbow. Showing a handsome face with smooth dark skin and neat cornrows running his scalp.

"Alec." Regent had slid his mask to the top of his head. His face was kind of feminine with slightly European features.

I couldn't exactly take of a mask, and the face paint would take too long to clean off. So instead I just smiled and held up the piece of paper.

-Taylor-  
-Nice to meet you-


	4. 1-3

School had been dull and uneventful, especially when compared to the night before. There was some serious mood whiplash between bored student to amateur super villain. The day couldn't end quick enough so I could get out of there and meet up with my new 'partners in crime'. I knocked, opened and had just walked through the door to their, no **our** Lair, when I was bombarded with babbling from the loft.

"So first of all, we're going to get you a mask. The grease paint won't quite cut it for keeping your identity secret."

I was a little thrown by Lisa's sudden comment. My confusion might not have been obvious, but with Lisa it didn't matter.

"Sorry, was just thinking of several things that would be a good idea for a more professional level costume. Primarily a mask." She clarified as I climbed up the stairs to the loft. "If we get you a full face mask, your features would be hidden with less mess and trouble than grease paint. We can still give it the classic Marcel Marceau colouring if you like."

I pondered that for a moment. As was quickly becoming typical, she had some good ideas. It was probably a good thing it was so dark last night, otherwise it might have been a simple matter for the ABB to recognise me out of costume. I nodded my agreement.

"I'll put an order in with the boss and he should have it to us soon. Other than a fancy new phone, any other gear you'd like? Weapons? Other equipment?"

A few seconds of thought brought up something rather important. I had really been too blasé about the danger the gang members had posed. I wasn't exactly any tougher after my trigger, my powers only having external applications. It was quite possible to get caught by surprise. With that in mind my pen scratched across paper.

-bullet proof vest?-

"Your telekinesis can't do that? I thought you could have created walls or something like that."

-better safe than dead-

"That is a fair point. I'll see what he can get in your size. It will cost a fair chunk of your initial payment though, or more." I just nodded, figuring that it would be pricey, especially if there were tinker tech based options available.

"Also I didn't mention it earlier, but I don't think you make as much sound as you should."

That definitely got my attention, I hadn't noticed anything like that. The look on my face prompted her to continue.

"It's likely that it only affects outside observers. You still make some noise, just something like a tenth as much as you should. I hadn't really noticed it till you were leaving last night with how subtle it was."

Well that was some food for thought. A few seconds later I mimed a laugh as I realised just how strangely appropriate that was. Lisa joined me a second later, obviously picking up on the connection I had made. So it was a bit of a sight for Brian and Alec as they walked in with an order of hot drinks and doughnuts.

"What did we miss?" Asked Brian, a bemused look on his face.

"Oh, just noting that the universe has conspired to make mimes more terrifying to the world by making a super powered one." She responded. I just rolled my eyes with melodramatic exasperation at the statement. I never really understood what was wrong with mimes, or clowns. People were weird.

"Oh no, the horror." Brian dead-panned, matching my opinion of the statement.

"But don't you see, the end is nigh? The world is not ready for the End Mimes!"

Mock horror tinged Alec's voice. He received a slap upside the head from Brian, much to my amusement.

"That was a horrible pun."

We sat down to drink and snack, sprawled around the lounge. After sipping some tea and taking a large bite out of a chocolate doughnut, I started writing out a question. The advantage of not being able to talk, is never having to worry about talking with your mouth full.

-So, power discussion time?-  
-I think I know what Lisa and Rachel do-

They took in what I wrote, and Brian took the lead.

"I have darkness powers. More specifically I can black out an area. Making it impossible to see and hear, as well as dampening radio and some powers. Part of the reason Shadow Stalker had a hate on for me." He looked at Lisa with a chuckle, "Or at least that's what she tells me."

-Could you demonstrate?-

"Sure." And with that, I was enveloped in darkness. When I moved my arm through the air, it had a weird oily texture to it there and there was a strange resistance. As if I were in some kind of liquid. I experimentally clapped my hands, and heard nothing, only the muted vibration through my hands indicating anything had happened. I gave a thumbs up, hoping he could see it. The darkness quickly receded.

-Felt weird-

They nodded in agreement and he continued, "As you guessed, I can see and hear through it just fine, so it makes for a good advantage in a fight."

I nodded in agreement, I wouldn't want to get stuck in that with Grue not on my side. I would be hard pressed to fight in those conditions.

My hand pointed towards Alec, indicating his turn.

"I mess with people's nervous system, like this." He said, snapping his fingers. Brian's hand, holding an éclair, jerked up to smeared cream on his face and prompting a surprised yelp.

"Alec, don't mess with the food." He growled, which only earned him a laugh.

"Its not the most dramatic power, but with timing it's been rather useful. Tripping people up, throwing off their aim, dropping things and so on." Lisa added.

I nodded once again. It had potential, but overall seemed a bit limited compared to most powers I'd heard of.

Some excited barking from downstairs heralded the return of Rachel. Going off an earlier suggestion by Lisa, I prepared to get her attention. Waving as she came into view, I quickly pointed to me then to her dogs and made a vague patting gesture then held up a piece of paper

-?-

The grumpy look she had on her face as she realised I was here turned to slight confusion as I played charades. Then she brought up Judas and mumbled, "Okay, be careful."  
I held out my hand for him to sniff for a bit. Then I gently patted the big dog on the head and scratched behind his ears, which he seemed to appreciate. Rachel looked at me and nodded with tacit approval before moving away again and off to her room to feed the dogs.

Lisa smiled at me while Alec and Brian looked surprised.

-What?-

"Usually Rachel would be more aggressive around new people." Brian answered.

"I guess even she is afraid of mimes." Joked Alec.

I just put my face in my hand and shook it side to side.


	5. 1-4

I couldn't see a clock anywhere in the room. Noticing that the light from outside was starting to dim, I held up my left wrist and tapped on it.

"Almost five." Lisa said without looking anywhere. Her power must have supplied her with the answer. I tapped my chin in a pondering gesture.

"Somewhere to be?" Asked Brian.

I scribbled out another note.

-Home-  
-Dad will worry-

"I can call him if you wanted to stick around and hang out. We have a spare cot." Lisa offered.

"We could get some pizza. Or judging by your looks, Chinese?" Alec suggested. The other three had looked unimpressed at his first idea. Not surprising with the pizza boxes everywhere.

"You wanna stick around?" Brain asked.

I felt pretty safe around them, and frankly I had been a bit deprived of friendly human contact over the last year and a half, even with the near cessation of bullying. So I thought fuck it, why not. The only problem was communicating this to Dad. I was going to need to convince him to get a mobile for texting as this sort of situation made communication... difficult. As much as they reminded him of Mum, he'd have to get over it sooner than later.

I nodded, wrote out my home number for Lisa and handed a slip with a request for lemon chicken to Brian. Then I prepared to write out some responses for Dad's inevitable questions. Lisa dialled and put it on speaker phone.

"Hi is this Taylor's Dad?" She asked as soon as the phone picked up.

"...Yes, has something happened?" A slight ting of worry already evident.

"No, no, nothing like that. My name's Lisa, I'm a friend of Taylor's. She's asked me to call you to see if she can stay the night. We're on speaker phone if you'd like to say hello."

"You there Taylor?"

I snapped my fingers twice near the speaker, a gesture I had been using to catch his attention since I lost my voice.

"I'd feel safer if you came home, you sure its alright to be out?" His concern was somewhat understandable, but he didn't exactly make it easy. I scribbled a suitable response for Lisa.

"She's written, 'I'll drop by on my way to school in the morning for a change of clothes, it will count as my morning run.' "

"Oh, ok. That sounds alright. Be careful, I'll see you in the morning." He obviously didn't think it sounded alright. But couldn't really do anything about it and my verbally challenged nature made any further discussion tedious.

"He sounded nervous." She said as she hung up, in a leading way. I sighed, or my best approximation of one.

-Had a bullying problem.-  
-With Sophia gone, less so.-

"Ah. That would explain things. Though probably shouldn't mention Shadow Stalker's name to anyone else. Bit of a violation of the unwritten rules and may get you in some trouble."

I blinked and slapped myself upside the head. That was kind of stupid of me. As much as I hated that bitch, her family probably didn't deserve any backlash of her being exposed. I made a mental note to be extra careful about that in the future.

We walked back over to the lounge area, where Brian had just finished ordering dinner from Lucky Chen's over on the Board Walk. He looked up as we approached.

"How about we take a walk to pick up the food? We can grab a few other items while the food is cooking."

Several affirmatives as we stood to leave. Rachel just grumbled and stayed seated, playing with the dogs. I guessed she didn't like shopping much.

We wove our way though the alleys and streets of the Docks on our way to the shops, not really chatting much. The silence was reasonably comfortable though.

"So school huh?" Said Alec, breaking the silence. It might have been a bit less comfortable to people who weren't me. I simply nodded, then pointed at him quizzically.

"Nah, dropped out when I left home. Learned what I needed and I don't see myself doing anything legit." He shrugged as a weird sort of punctuation.

"I take online courses." Said Brian.

"I've already taken my G.E.D." Said Lisa, jumping on the bandwagon.

"And you didn't use your powers at all." The sarcasm positively dripped from Alec's tongue.

"I would have gone insane with boredom if I stayed in school." She added, a fair excuse if I ever heard one.

We walked a bit further in silence till we hit the Board Walk. Brian led us to an electronics store that had yet to close for the day and Lisa picked out a large touch screen with a slide out keyboard. I had thought that slightly defeated the point of having a touch screen but the keys would be a lot easier to type with at speed.

"This should make things a bit quicker than the pad once you get used to it. As well as you know, communicating." She smiled as she explained her choice, confirming my earlier thoughts. I mouthed the words 'thank you' and smiled.

"That's what friends are for." She smiled and hugged me, which surprised me a little. I had grown unused to contact since Mum died. While Dad would give me hugs he had grown somewhat distant since and Emma, well Emma stopped with the hugs when she became a traitorous bitch. Still, my tension eased out as she continued the hug a bit longer. I was starting to wonder if she had known I needed one when she finally let go and we proceeded to the restaurant.

The trip back was mostly spent with Brian and Alec arguing over the finer points of some game I hadn't played, while Lisa added a bunch of numbers to my new phone/writing pad.

Dinner was fairly quiet, as we were all to busy stuffing our faces with delicious food that probably only vaguely matched actual Chinese recipes. Soon we had devoured most of the available cuisine and moved on to the slow process of overfilling our bellies with prawn crackers.

"So other than the voice thing, any reason for the mime theme?" Asked Brian, sounding genuinely interested.

I held up a finger as I pulled out the phone and stumbled through opening up a text box. I figured I had best get practising.

-The voice was one.-  
-I like mimes, unlike some.-  
-When I use powers, usually see invisible shapes.-  
-Need to interact with to use.-  
-So mime made sense to me.-

"Wow, that is interesting. Rarely get to hear how other perceive their powers."

"I'd say that was way too much of a coincidence, but powers are strange like that. Hell look at Glaistig Uaine, she for all appearance collects ghosts of parahumans, that have their powers." I wasn't sure I liked Lisa comparing me to the Faerie Queen, but she did have a point. "Also I note you used the word _usually_."

-Few more things I can do-  
-Still need to make gestures-

"Like?" She asked. I was kind of surprised she couldn't tell, but I guess there were limits to even her power. Either that or felt like letting me explain.

-Volunteer? May hurt-

"As long as it isn't permanent, sure." Brian offered.

I coughed into my left hand before making rasping breathing noises and held up my right in a claw. Brian made a choked gargling noise as some pressure was applied to his throat. I quickly released the pressure, having gotten the point across. Lisa started clapping, apparently amused at the connotations. I did a quick little bow as Regent cracked up laughing.

"Fucking Vader?" Said Brian incredulously. I couldn't say I really blamed him. I was rather surprised when I found that out as I was haphazardly practising last month. I quickly tapped out something on my phone.

-I find your lack of faith disturbing-

That started another bout of laughter, even from Brian. I was more and more feeling this team thing could work out well.


	6. 1-5

I awoke at 6:28 as usual. Even without the usual sound cues from home, it was so ingrained. Initially I had a bout of panic as I stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling, before last night's decision came to me and realised I was in a camp bed in the spare room of the Undersider lair. My new phone decided it was 7 and started beeping insistently. Reaching over bleary eyed, I tried to shut up the unfamiliar device. It took several attempts to quiet its ear splitting noise.

I dragged myself out of bed and put my jacket and shoes back on, having left everything else on, not quite comfortable enough yet to sleep in less around my new team mates. Stumbling out of the room I waved sleepily at Brian, who had crashed on the couch for the night. He smiled and poured hot water into a mug and took a sip.

"Would you like some tea?" He asked gesturing at the stack of mugs. I nodded, thinking nothing would be better right at that moment. He grabbed a mug and dropped in a bag of Earl Grey. Not exactly perfect, but it would do. A quick pour and he held out the steaming drink for me to take.

I slowly drank down the tea, gradually feeling more aware than I had shortly before. Placing the mug down, I retrieved the phone from my pocked and started typing.

-I'll head home.-  
-Want a shower before school.-  
-Thanks for tea.-

"A good idea, and no problem. If you drop by this afternoon I'll have a spare key for you. You can come by and hang out whenever."

-Sweet.-  
-Tell them I said hi.-

"Will do."

I waved goodbye as I headed out the door for a strange inverse of my morning run. The air was crisp, the sun only just starting to peek in between the various warehouses around the lair. I slowly ramped up my pace as I hit the Board Walk. Getting my blood pumping, my breathing regular and my feet thumping as I rand along the streets towards home. It was a little thing really, but last night had improved my mood considerably compared to just a few days back. So long with out any friendship and suddenly I had 3 and a half. After all, I wasn't sure Bitch was my friend, so much as someone I had mutual tolerance of. But it was a good start, even if I was possibly deluding myself.

I arrived back home having worked up quite a sweat, pushing myself a bit harder than usual. If I was going to be a cape I should really try to be at peak fitness, and I'd only really be exhausted till I got some breakfast into my belly. As I opened up the front door, Dad came out from the kitchen.

"Hi Taylor, did you have fun?" He asked, trying to be supportive, but still clearly worried. I nodded and pulled out my note pad to 'talk'. I didn't want to freak him out about the phone so soon.

"I didn't realise you had made some new friends."

I felt slightly insulted at the implications, even if they were entirely valid.

-I met them on one of my jogs.-  
-Chatted a few times.-  
-Thought we'd hang out.-

It wasn't entirely a lie, I had after all met them when I went jogging. Just at night, in costume and after a cape fight.

"So what are they like?"

-They're nice.-  
-Funny too.-

Well, to me anyway. I couldn't really tell them they were villains and had helped me wreak Lung.

"I'll get to meet them at some point?"

His tone was almost pleading. He was obviously concerned that I might be involved with people I probably shouldn't. I would have to organise for Lisa at least to drop by some time. Not sure how he'd react to the rest.

-I'll see if they want to drop by some time-  
-Need to shower & get ready.-

It was a slightly cruel trick to short cut the conversation like that, but I was starting to run a little late and didn't really know what else to tell him about my new crew. Especially when I still had lingering doubts about whether this was such a good idea.

"Oh, of course. Don't want to be late. We can talk later."

I nodded and head upstairs to clean up.

***

Dad was able to drop me off at school on his way to work, which suited me just fine with the extra effort I had put in this morning. I had found myself dressing in a bit more colour than usual, running off the advice Lisa gave me about the civilian/cape identity division. The less similarities between clothing and general appearance, the harder it would be to match up the two 'different' people. My hair was down as usual, unlike when I was in costume and I tucked it into a bun under my beret.

The main issue I had would be the identifying feature of not being able to talk. While it worked with the Mime theme, it was still atypical. As much as it pained me, I had to consider limiting my phone typing to cape/lair use and stick with the pad for when I was Taylor. That was depressing. But at least for today, I would stick with the pad. Maybe I could get a less cool phone for every day use. Damn, I had forgotten to mention phones to Dad.

I found myself struggling to pay attention in class. I hadn't even done much cape work and already school seemed so mundane. Luckily, the teachers continued to play to type and ignored me. It was too much of a hassle for them to really engage me in questions when one of us had to approach the other to get my answer across. I should have been annoyed by yet another sign of an uncaring system, but it finally proved useful for once.

Third period was computer class with Ms Knott. After finishing off the fairly simple assignment I dove into Parahumans Online to see if any gossip had spread about my exploits versus Lung. To say I was disappointed by the complete lack of news would be a vast understatement. Seriously, what the hell? I would have thought taking down one of the most powerful capes in the Bay would be enough to warrant a little attention. I could understand the ABB wanting to keep it quiet, but surely the PRT would be shouting it to the heavens that the guy who fought most of the local Protectorate to a stand still was captured?

My sour mood was not at all helped by Emma. I had walked out of class only to pass by her on the way to math with Mr Quinlan. She had been a bit quiet since Sophia disappeared and hardly tried anything after I came back from the hospital. Probably a bit shocked that there were repercussions for her actions. So it was somewhat surprising when she decided to return to her usual bitchy self.

"Don't even know why she bothers to come anyway?" She faux whispered as I walked by.

"Yeah, its not like she can talk to people or anything." said one of the random hangers on. I was slightly confused that I didn't see Madison around, maybe she had learned some common sense. More likely got bored.

"Its creepy how silent she is."

I thought about just walking on. They really weren't worth it. I should really move on. Fuck it. I stopped, pulled out my pad and started writing as I turned and walked back their way. It wasn't wise, it probably wouldn't achieve much, but it might just be fun.

-Sorry-  
-Does the injury your lover gave me offend you?-  
-Or are you cranky with no Sophia to cuddle?-

If this all went to hell, at least the look of shock on her face as she read the note would stick in my memory for some time to come. I started scribbling a response even as she blushed and sputtered, hoping I guessed right.

"What? No, you pervert. I'm not a dyke like you."

-Was she that better in bed than me?-

The girl next to her snorted, drawing an angry look from Emma. It didn't match quite right, but the speed gave the desired effect. I had asked Lisa the night before for some tips on embarrassing prissy bitch faced divas. For no reason in particular. Honest.

"Eeew no! It's not like that."

-I'm sorry, but I have someone else now.-

I gave my best attempt at a pitying expression and then walked off to the next class, leaving her to defend herself to her new hangers on. Its not like I really had a reputation to maintain and being thought of as a lesbian wasn't really much of a change from the rumours that got spread around anyway. Not like any of the guys at school were worth a damn either. Otherwise they would have interfered in the bullying. Or let me out of the locker. Or not laughed along with the jokes at my expense. Still, that little pick me up managed to lift my spirits enough to stick around for the rest of the school day.


	7. 1-6

-Hi Dad,-  
-I've gone to go hang out with Lisa and Co.-  
-Should be back after dinner, otherwise I'll ask Lisa to call you.-  
-I know its been an issue since Mum died and I don't really like it,-  
-but given my problem we should get mobile phones.-  
-The SMS thing could let us communicate without me needing others.-  
-Please consider it.-

I stared at the note for Dad before sticking it to the fridge and heading to the lair. It was another cowardly use of my speech issue, but I really didn't want to try and have the talk without giving him some time to think on it. Let him calm down before deciding, I hoped.

A short bus trip later, I was within walking distance of my new home away from home. I don't know what it said about me that I was more comfortable in a villain lair than I was in my own home. The strange detachment between Dad and I that had been there since the crash and hadn't receded much after the locker. Even with him trying harder to connect.

I heard an invitation at my knocking on the door and entered. Every one was already upstairs in the loft, which was a nice surprise.

"Taylor, perfect timing, we've just got a job request from the boss." said Brian. I tilted my head in question and Lisa answered.

"He wants us to do a bank job this Thursday."

That surprised me, would have thought that that would be a bit too ambitious for us, but I was intrigued. I pulled my phone out and tapped away.

-Isn't that risky?-

"Yes, very."

Brian was clearly unimpressed at the whole idea.

Lisa stood near the TV, a phone in hand. I could only guess that it was our mysterious employer on the other end. The rest were lounging on the couch and seats.

"But its like an initiation into a life of villainy. Can't be a villain without a bank robbery." She said, obviously wanting us to go along with the idea.

"Still a bad idea. What's the average haul for a bank heist?"

"Maybe twenty kay?" She replied after a little thought.

"Yeah, not really that much considering that a bank in Brocton Bay will have even less cash on hand with all the villains around. So knock off another five thou and we end up with maybe three grand each. That's less than our other jobs."

"Three thousand in spending money could always help." Piped in Alec, the mention of money grabbing his attention.

"What is worth buying that we'd try to rob a bank with the hero presence in this city?" he asked, and Alec just shrugged.

"We've won plenty of fights, even before we got her." Said Rachel, finally joining the conversation, and nodded in my direction in a dismissive manner.

"Fights where we picked out battles, where we could move about, not trapped in a bank full of hostages."

General nods from the group, while I sat and took in the discussion.

"It will be harder to slip away, and if we want anything worth a damn we'll have to fight. Even with your power Lisa, it will take time to get through all the security and the capes will arrive in no time flat."

Alec grinned and said "But think of the rep we'd gain for getting away with it."

"He's right." said Bitch.

"And yet, not getting caught is better for our reputation long term."

"What do you think?" asked Lisa looking my way. I had gotten carried away observing. On the one hand it sounded like it could be fun, but I didn't really want to get arrested on my second outing as a cape.

-Rep would be good.-  
-Doesn't sound worth the risk though.-

Alec rolled his eyes, while Rachel looked at the phone blankly. I looked at her for a moment, awaiting a snide comment, before something clicked. I face palmed and typed. I don't know why I didn't think of it before when I had researched her history.

-Can Rachel read?-

"Shit." Said Brian, aptly summing up everyone's opinion on the matter.

"What?" Asked Rachel.

"You can't read?" Alec sounded disbelieving. I was kind of surprised this hadn't come up earlier.

"Only some words."

"Well as inconvenient as that is, I have some reasons to take this job." Said Lisa, quickly regaining out attention. "The boss wants a job done at a particular time, so I managed to wrangle some extra funding from him if we do the job."

"The bank is actually my idea and he liked it. The Protectorate have an event outside town on Thursday so they won't be able to respond in time. We hit Bay Central in Downtown, Ward jurisdiction stops New Wave from coming in."

"So we are just attacking the bank with the heaviest security in the city with Arcadia nearby." Brian said, trying to wrap his head around the crazy.

"Yes, and the entire team can't all pop out of school without attracting the wrong sort of attention. So we'd be fighting a partial team of junior heroes and they are down one Shadow Stalker. With me so far?"

"Well that sounds a lot more doable. Still not really worth the money." He said, with less disagreement in his body language than earlier.

"Ah, but I got the boss to give us twice what we haul in. We take fifteen, we get payed an extra thirty. Or he brings us up to a minimum twenty five thou, whichever is more. So we all walk away with a minimum five kay each as long as we get away."

"Why the hell would he do that, it makes no sense." I had to agree with Brian on that point, tasty amounts of cash aside, that did seem suspicious.

"And hell cover costs for this job." She added, her mouth a huge grin.

I mimed out a confused Why? gesture. I hadn't even seen that much in a bank account, let alone in cash.

"One, he wants a team with a reputation on call. Two he must want this job done real bad."

-Distraction?-

"Probably, but with the money we'd be getting that really isn't our concern."

"That's some nice incentive, but attacking one of the most secure buildings in the city and certain conflict with the Wards..."

"And Thursday afternoon will have the highest amount of cash, as the armoured cars will have made several drop offs by then. So we'd be looking at, at least thirty though, so we'd get ninety."

Brian just whistled. It looked like she'd hit the magic number. It was a very pretty number.

"Alright, I'm in."

"Finally, of course I'm in." said Alec.

Rachel just grunted in agreement.

They all looked at me. I was a bit nervous about the idea, but it would net me a bunch of cash and stick it to the PRT hard if we were successful. I should have been worried that one of my major motivations as a person lately has been vindictive spite. Just a shame I couldn't take it out on Sophia.

-So, what's the plan?-


	8. 1-7

-Still not convinced-

"Would you rather take a hit to your pride, or have your identity revealed?" Asked Lisa.

-Neither-  
-You get away with a domino mask-

"Yes, but I take steps to change my appearance and body language, and we need to work twice as hard with your silence."

-But do we really need to do this?-

"Yes, trust me. You'll thank me in the long run. Besides, the vest already flattens out your chest."

I sighed and caved into the unwinnable argument. As much as it hurt my pride, it worked surprisingly well. With the baggy pants, sensible running shoes the bullet proof vest underneath the roomy black and white striped shirt and my hair hidden under the red beret, I looked like a boy. My height and the concealment of my meagre feminine traits added together to give the completely wrong impression for my gender and the mask just made it all the more convincing. That stupid male mime face. But really, what did I expect when I named myself after the most famous of mimes. At least I could take small comfort in knowing it was an extra layer of disguise that most wouldn't notice.

In addition to getting my costume sorted, I had obtained a stun gun and stashed it in a belt pouch. A 'just in case' option, even though my power would likely work much more effectively. I had the boss send me a bicycle horn, to use as a quick way to grab attention. While I could have found something less obnoxious, it fit the theme too well.

-Well, let's get going then.-

We made out way to the side door of the bank, rain drizzling down on us as we walked through the alley. Bitch's dogs were already pretty large, like small mutant flesh ponies. Not as large as they were when they were mauling Lung though, lest they not fit through the door.

I kept an eye on the alley entrance, while Tattletale blathered on about security codes and special procedures behind me. I probably could have been paying more attention to what she said, but I was too amped up and paranoid about ambush. The door made a little chime noise and opened, letting us make a quiet entry inside. Once through the door, the dogs started growing more while the rest of us systematically checked the rooms we passed.

Grue held up a hand then flooded one of the rooms with darkness, returning shortly after with a man in a suit, steered via twisted arm. Right about now, the security guards would be calling in a villain attack, which should be directed to the Wards if all went according to plan. Regent came out of another pushing an older employee ahead of him. Both looking fearful. Probably ten minutes tops before the heroes arrived to 'save the day'.

As we entered the main lobby, Grue filled the outskirts of the room with darkness, sealing off the view from the outside and isolating everyone in the bank while Angelica Judas and Brutus grew extra large in a moment, charging into the room, spraying bloody chunks everywhere and they increased to the size of cars.

"Down on the ground!" Shouted Grue, his voice a booming echo through the darkness around his mask. "Fifteen minutes of your cooperation, we'll be done and you can all go home safe. If you don't cooperate, the dogs will have new chew toys. Be quiet and still. Do not attempt to run or call for help, you'll only get someone hurt."

Tattletale, Grue and Bitch went over to the vault with Angelica, while Regent and I started zip cuffing the crowd. A girl with brown curly hair and freckles was glaring at us. I caught her eye and wagged my finger at her in case she was going to try something. She had the eyes of someone that needed watching. The vault was opened and Tattletale went over to the manager's office to monitor the security situation.

People were behaving fairly well, obviously terrified of the dogs. I was kind of feeling bad for helping scare the hell out of these people, but we hadn't harmed anyone and I wasn't planning on it. Angelica came out, laden with gym bags full of loot and Brutus was called in. I just stood there, leaning on nothing and keeping my eyes on people I thought might be a threat. That girl had stopped staring directly at me at lest.

Bored, I was tempted to start playing with an invisible bouncy ball, but was snapped out of it by Tattletale at the vault door.

"The white hats are here, and it doesn't look good."

We moved to the doors and peered out through gaps in the swirling darkness. outside stood a spread out line of six capes. I recognised five from their costumes after researching the wards. The sixth however was new to me. I tapped on Tattletale's shoulder and pointed at the muscled teen.

"Browbeat, a point blank telekinetic, don't let him hit you. He can also heal pretty fast." She explained quickly.

"So, why are there six out there when there were only supposed to be three or four?" Grue asked, quite pointedly.

"I'm guessing he just joined the Wards, probably to replace Shadow Stalker. Also there is a seventh on the roof." She replied.

"You really screwed the pooch here. If we get out of this, we're having a long chat."

"I can take them. Just let my dogs do their thing." Said Bitch, seemingly unconcerned.

"Nope, not risking killing anyone. We take the money, run for it like planned."

"Thats what they want." Said Tattletale shaking her head. "The way they're lined up, spread just enough to tempt us. The one on the roof would get in the way of the back. With Vista and outnumbering us, we'll have even more trouble fleeing."

"Fuck." Groaned Regent.

"Well we can't stay here, the Protectorate will eventually appear and we aren't likely to force them inside." Said Grue, pointing out the obvious.

"We have hostages." Bitch said, as if we had forgotten.

*Honk*

They all turned to look at me standing there with a bicycle horn in one hand, phone in the other.

-Expect us to run-  
-Surprise attack them-

The doors slammed open and half of our hostages ran out of the bank

Aegis yelled out "Get down!" at the fleeing civilians just as another billowing cloud of pitch black enveloped them.

"Brutus, hurt!" Bitch told the dog at her side, pointing at Aegis past the darkness, and it leaped in to action, bounding toward the Wards leader.

Nestled behind a pillar and some residual darkness, Regent snapped out his arm, causing Kid Win to throw his aim and scatter shots meant for Brutus at Clockblocker's feet, causing him to dodge to the side. The dog's jaws missed Aegis by a few feet as the space warped around him. I had found my target.

Whirling my right arm around before making a skyward throwing gesture, I waited for a few seconds, following a non existant object into the air and down onto Vista. I could hear her surprised yelp as her arms snapped to her sides and I started hauling her up into the air. Grue assisted by creating a sphere around her, so she couldn't see anything.

The space warping around Aegis dropped, allowing the dogs teeth to snap around his arm and start shaking its massive head, tossing the hero around like a rag doll. I winced a bit as I saw blood flying around the place, but knew, at least intellectually, that he could take it. 'Tying off' the invisible rope I had lassoed Vista with on one of the pillars, I took in the scene. Kid Win was taking erratic turns as Regent continued to troll him.

Gallant was throwing his emotion blasts around the place, trying to hit one of us in between all the barriers of darkness that had sprung up. He eventually manage to clip Bitch. She apparently got very angry, screaming and pointing at him. Judas took this as an order and pounced, knocking the silver armoured ward against a nearby wall where he stopped moving. I hoped he was only unconscious.

"Be right back, Marceau." said Tattletale with a grin before running back to the office. She turned before I could attempt to complain. So instead I turned back to the fight.

Kid win opened up with a spray of fire, clipping Bitch and flooring her before he took a nose dive into the ground courtesy of Regent. Angelica stood over her master and growled at the approaching Browbeat. Before I could do anything, he punched the dog, sending in flying back several yards. He had a few seconds to look down at the groaning Bitch, before he found one of his legs pulled out from under him as I pulled, then sent him flying of to the side and skidding a few times across the road.

Stepping back to the pillar, I mimed checking on the 'rope' I had 'tied' earlier. I didn't want Vista coming loose anytime soon. The fight out front was rather distracting, so much so that I almost missed the movement behind me. That girl with the dagger eyes had wrangled her phone out of her pocket, despite the zip ties and had pressed a few buttons. As I moved over to sort it out, a crash came from further down the room as a familiar white and gold dressed figure slammed into the lobby. Glory Girl. _Shit_.

"Hey Sis," She said, looking at the girl at my feet, "You okay?"

Well that explained a lot. Well, not one to take the safe option apparently, I pushed her back down to the floor with one foot and squeezed my horn.

*Honk Honk*

Her face quickly turned into a snarl as she flew at me. I had just enough time to drop the horn and put my hands up, shoulder width apart. The look on Glory Girl's face when she slammed into an invisible wall was well worth waking up this morning. My hands shook a little with the imaginary shockwave. As she dropped back, a little stunned. I moved my hands over my shoulder, took a grip and swung hard. I expected it to bounce off her. Instead, it sent her flying into the wall behind her, screaming in pain before hitting the wall with a dull thump.

"Vicky? What did you do to her?" The girl who I realised was Panacea asked, sounding both very surprised a worried. She had her head to the side so she could look at her sister, and catch me in her peripheral vision. I tapped at my phone.

-I thought she was invincible?-

"Not exactly invincible." said Tattletale as she walked back into the lobby with a vulpine grin on her face. "Some kind of shield effect that has to regenerate. Looks like it was taken out when she crashed into your wall. Ah Panacea. Didn't recognise you, did you do something with your hair?"

"Fucking psychos, let me heal her. She could be dying." Panacea pleaded.

"Oh don't worry, she's still breathing, she just got knocked out. Not used to pain I would guess. Anyway, time for us to head out. The Wards have been dealt with."

I stepped, off the healer, and kneeled down beside her as I typed out another message.

-Sorry.-  
-She probably would have killed me.-  
-Please wait a minute to heal her.-  
-No hard feelings?-

My fingers made scissoring motions and the cuffs came apart as my other hand picked up my horn. As we left through the front door, I turned back towards the slowly rising girl.

*Honk Honk*

Shrouded in darkness, we rode away from the pile of unconscious and or mauled heroes with around 40 grand in various denominations and bonds. All in all, a pretty good haul. Bitch was still wincing in pain as we rode, Gallant's blast and the laser pistol having bruised her good. Grue had been clipped by a stray punch from Aegis before two of the dogs ganged up to play tug of war. Otherwise, we got away pretty much unscathed.

I still didn't know how to feel about Glory Girl. On the one hand I had hurt her pretty bad, which I didn't think was even possible. On the other, she had seemed like an arrogant bitch much like Sophia. My perspective may have been a bit skewed though, seeing as I was holding her sister hostage at the time.

We split up as planned. Dismounting and changing out of costume while still under cover of darkness, then pretending to be confused civilians when the darkness passed by. Lisa and I along with Judas, just a couple of teenage girls walking a dog. No villains around, no sir.


End file.
